Biography

Tupac Amaru Shakur was the son of two Black Panthers members, who split before his birth. Tupac's mother, Afeni Shakur, called him Lesane Parish Crooks at birth, concealing their kin in fear for his life, as Black Panthers had many foes. Only at the age of three months the boy was called by his real name in honor of Indian Tupac Amaru II, who lead the riot of Inks against Spanish invaders and was later convinced to death. Tupac's childhood consisted of constant travels along the USA; his family had problems with the law and lived in poverty. Being a teenager, Shakur managed to enter the prestigious Baltimore School For The Arts, where he studied jazz, ballet and acting, performing in Shakespeare's plays. However, Tupac did not finish the school as he had to move again with the family because of his mother's drug-addiction. So he came to Marin City, California. There he went to the Tamaplais High School, but dropped out. In 1990, Shakur got acquainted with the members of the rap band Digital Underground, becoming their back-up dancer.

Soon Tupac not only danced, but also rapped with the Digital Underground on their disc, composing his own debut work in spare time. It was titled 2Pacalypse Now and saw light in 1992, making a lot of noise with the single Brenda's Got A Baby. Many public faces criticized sharply his edgy and colorful texts. At the same time Shakur proved to be an extremely gifted actor, making his debut appearance in Juice picture by Ernest Dickerson. His second full-length Striclty 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z. followed soon and rocketed with the hits I Get Around and Keep Ya Head Up. Around the same time Tupac got serious problems with the law. For the beginning, he was accused of a murder. The reason was that Shakur and his friends were attacked, they started shooting with the attackers and as a result, a child-bystander was killed. Shakur was found not guilty. In the summer of 1993, Tupac was sentenced to 15 days in jail for assaulting the director during film shooting. At the end of 1993, the rapper organized the Thug Life band out of his friends, with whom he managed to record only one album Thug Life Vol. 1. Later he was accused of attacking two police officers, but again found not guilty.

However, soon he was accused of a sexual abuse and sentenced to 4 years and a half in jail. Tupac listened to the verdict, sitting in a wheel chair, as he did not heal yet after the recent armed robbery. The artist was attacked at the studio lobby and shot five times – twice in his head. Being in a prison, Shakur released his third disc Me Against The World, which became the first album in the world that became the chart leader, while its author served his prison sentence. In his prison cell Shakur read a lot, including Machiavelli, Sun Tsu and other political philosophers, writing his own film script. Being in jail, he also married to his long-time girlfriend Keisha Morris, but this marriage was annulated later. After 7 months of imprisonment, the Death Row Records director put a bail for Shakur, agreeing with the rapper that he would make a contract with the studio for three discs in return. Tupac gathered a new band Outlawz, with which he recorded the first double album in rap history All Eyes On Me. The disc titled The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory became the darkest work ever by Tupac and was issued after his murder. The artist died of the wounds in the hospital. His killers were never found. As the singer worked hard in the studio, many of his unreleased songs later entered his posthumous albums.